Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 7

18 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7 chargers already installed – two sets of three from different manufacturers,” Baker reports. “Right now, our electric buses are supplied by two different manufacturers: Proterra, an American-based manufacturer, and New Flyer, a Canadian headquartered company which builds their buses in the United States. Both partnered to supply us with the first set of chargers, with each charger capable of charging two buses simultaneously.” The electric buses give detailed reports of bus performance, since battery charge greatly depends upon the driver. Baker adds, “The New Flyer buses, the first electric ones in our fleet, provide information reports from their own board telematics systems informing us of performance, charge state of the vehicle, how quickly the charge is lost, driving styles, etc. We’ve talked about incentivizing drivers for their driving performance, as energy is recaptured when coming to a stop, so the goal is to drive smoothly. That’s hard in an urban area, but if achieved, the battery charge lasts longer.” As with the electric buses, DASH is often an early adopter of cutting-edge technology. It was one of the first transit companies in the area to create a mobile app on the moovel mobile ticketing platform for its customers. Martin Barna, Director of Planning & Scheduling, shares, “The DASH Bus app is used exclusively for the DASH transit system. Customers can use it to purchase their fare or monthly passes. They can pay online using credit cards, debit cards, or PayPal. It’s very easy to use. Whenever they’re ready to board the bus, they just have to activate their pass and show their screen to the driver. It’s been very popular.” Last fall, DASH’s regional partner, WMATA released the SmarTrip app. It allows Apple iPhone users, and now Android users, to pay Metrobus or Metrorail fare using the app, so the process is completely contactless. Conveniently, all DASH buses accept the SmarTrip app. HERE FOR YOU Manassas, VA 571-292-8740 Glen Burnie, MD 410-590-8700